American Eagle expanding into Mexico; six stores planned for 2013

Pittsburgh -- American Eagle Outfitters announced plans to open a series of vertically owned and operated-stores in Mexico, with the first location set to open on February 20, 2013, in Mexico City.

The store will be located in the Perisur’s shopping center, a mall located in the south part of Mexico City. Each AEO store will include an Aerie presence either in shop-in-shop or side-by-side form.

“Mexico presents an exciting market opportunity for AEO, where we have evidence of strong brand acceptance through the positive response to our Mexico-specific e-commerce site, which we launched in fall of 2012 bringing a multi-channel experience to our customers," said CEO Robert Hanson. “We plan to open six company owned stores this year, and to profitably scale the business over the next several years. We view Mexico as an important launch that will drive our longer-term approach to global expansion.”

In 2012, American Eagle Outfitters successfully licensed stores in Japan, Israel and Poland and continues to grow its presence in the Middle East. American Eagle Outfitters is currently present in 13 countries and ships online to 77 countries internationally.